A Couple New York Yankee Trade Rumors

There's not much going on today, but the Yankees still have a surplus of outfielders, so there will still be rumors floating around concerning Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher.

noMaas.org wants OF, Maxwell. The Braves beat out the Mets and other teams by signing Derek Lowe to a four-year $60 million deal. This supposedly wraps up their rotation so they will now focus on their offense.

Ken Rosenthal said that the Atlanta Braves have been speaking with the Yankees to discuss both Nady and Swisher. He doesn’t give any details of the talks, or who the Braves would prefer. I’d have to imagine that they would prefer Swisher because he is under contract beyond this season.

On that note, a previous rumor of a Swisher-for-Mike Cameron swap with the Brewers was debunked by Buster Olney. He said the two sides have not had conversations since the winter meetings.

NoMaas.org notes that if the Yankees and the Nationals do eventually work out a deal involving either Nady or Swisher, they would like the deal to revolve around Justin Maxwell. My only problem with this is that Maxwell seems a bit old for prospect status, and he recently suffered wrist injuries which tend to sap players of some power. So he’s a little bit of a risk. I’d probably prefer to keep Nady and Swisher.

Texas’ Michael Young has requested a trade, but the former second baseman doesn’t seem like a fit on the Yankees according to SI’s Jon Heyman. Apparently the team isn’t interested in dealing Robinson Cano, which seems like a prerequisite to acquiring Young.

Finally, Heyman said that Andy Pettitte’s chances of continuing his career are “less than 50-50.” As it stands right now, he doesn’t seem to be returning to the Yankees, so retirement is most likely his next option. Heyman puts the Dodgers and Astros as long shots.

Heyman also said that the Reds would love to have Bobby Abreu, but probably can’t afford him. With demands in the $40 million range, that is likely to be a running theme.